Tuesday, April 20, 2010

The Canadiens dispiriting 5-1 loss to the Capitals Monday night was just that, a loss. One out of four that will be needed to eliminate the Canadiens from the playoffs, which is something that is still two losses away.

In almost any series that does not end in a sweep, there is one team that leads two games to one. One team that appears to have all the momentum. One team that has dealt a severe blow to the other. One team that appears to be on the ropes.

That team, right now, is your Montreal Canadiens. Why? My thoughts on the matter are summed up in my CBC.ca blog, but should you not be inclined to read it, my reason for the Canadiens loss can be summed up in one word: fragile.

That team was controlling the game last night until a bad break, an unlucky bounce, resulted in a shorthanded goal against. And that's all it took for the Habs to fold. To give up. To lose all confidence.

How can that be, considering the first period they had just put together? And if that was the case, do you think maybe the coach would call a timeout, assuming he actually has a finger on the pulse of his players?

But, as I suggested earlier, that is all in the past. The reality of the present is that the Canadiens are down 2-1 in the series, which is exactly where they would have been if both teams had protected their home ice. It's not a disaster, especially when playing against the President's Trophy winners.

But the pressure for Game 4 is squarely on the Habs shoulders now. It is a must-win of the highest order, and isn't it delicious that it will likely be Carey Price faced with the responsibility of delivering that win. (That irony was the subject of my game story for CP last night).

By the time the two teams take the ice Wednesday, it will have been exactly 50 days since Price's last victory.

Excellent post. I still believe and too. Keep up the good work. Anyway we can get an ex-superstar (like Beliveau) -- I wish he made a trip to the dressing room after the 2nd period) Seriously. I too believe that it's about a fragile mental state. This CAN be corrected. We are the city with the most resources to help. Get these guys from the past in the room. I trust you have to contacts and the connections to make a few phone calls. Jump on it now!

I agree completely with fragile. It's the word I used to explain the quick trip from zenith to nadir. But that first goal was not bad luck. Take a look at the replay. 44 not trapping the puck on the boards is bad luck but he came back like he was at the end of a 2 minute shift and then he goes to the guy at the side of the net rather than the guy in front. Oh well perhaps 44 was confused. 13 was in front of the net, doing absolutely nothing - having no clue as to why he was there - as the puck was being shot into the net.

I'm usually a nevergiveupper but face it: changing goalies ain't going to change this team's fortunes. None of the goals were soft- in either of the last two games. This team has no clue how to play defence. And that is their strength.

Open your eyes, this team didnt even belong in the playoffs let alone face the face team in the league who btw they easily could had avoided at least for one round by just winning one single game of their last 3 against 3 of the worst teams in the NHL, Islanders, Leafs and Carolina. Just one win of those 3. Habs a team who won but 39 games and only 24 in regulation time - that little boys is a losing record team. And they have that losing record for a reason and it starts at the top right from day 1 of this regime in 2003 which now is 7 years ago. Until they are completely changed this tea,m will be spinning their wheels for years to come.

This is garbage hockey! Montreal used to have great hockey year after year because the men who ran the team knew what they were doing. These fools Gauthier, Gainey, Timmons, Martin, Boivin and Corey and Houle before them have made the Canadiens a laughing stock.

BTW- They also now have ruined Halak's trade value.

If Molson's boys don't completely clean house this will be the same next year and every year afte. Unless of course you are happy with this mediocre garbage!

say what? they won 39 out of 82 games a losing record. 24 games in regulation time. alloweed more goals than they scored. got in with 88 points the lowest any team got in with since the lockout in the 3 point game era.

this is a garbage team because they were built by complete incompetants who have been there for 7 years and ar4e still here.

when you cant even beat ONE of 3 useless terible teams in the last 3 games to avoid washington how on earth is a patheticly run team such as this one ever beat any playoff team especially washington.

and subban? just what kind of idiots would return subban (who in thaose few games already looked like the 2nd best defenseman on the habs to markov) to hamilton at the olympic break AND not immediately bring him right back as the stretch run started and refused to bring him up all the way thru and still after 3 games of these playoffs? even the 2 scorers hamilton had who also looked good here trotter and Desharnais were sent back and he uses darche, calls up pyatt worthless defenseman bergeron on defense. gauthier, gainey and martin are total incompetants - their record HERE proves it. 7 YEARS IS MORE THAN ENUFF!

The only question is how did the most intelligent hockey fans in any city those in montreal - how have they become so stupid and not see this and ask for it to end with the complete removal of the cancer/ olde boys club/local yokels of Boivin, Gauthier, Gainey and Martin.

I'm calling it now that Halak gets the start for game 4 and he deserves it. I love Price but you can blame him on those goals, the defence need to grow a pair and get those guys out of the dirty areas. In regards to the people talking about cleaning house and how people need to go, we need negative ppl like you to just keep you dumb comments to yourself.

Anonymous said... I'm calling it now that Halak gets the start for game 4 and he deserves it. I love Price but you can blame him on those goals, the defence need to grow a pair and get those guys out of the dirty areas. In regards to the people talking about cleaning house and how people need to go, we need negative ppl like you to just keep you dumb comments to yourself.

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The ONLY negatives I see are 39 wins out of 82. And 1 win combined with 2 losses(and counting) - those are the negatives. Problem why this team has been so pathetic for 17 thats right 17 years is moron fans like you accept this second rate crap!

As long as fools fill 21,073 seats every game there is no reason for them to change their ways. Winning has never been a priority. Appeasing the French nationalist media is their #1 priority.

As for tonight , of course Price will start, if Halak plays and they said he was visibly shaken the other night and would allow a bunch of goals which is highly possible because Washington can SCORE BIGTIME on anyone, his trade value this summer will be nothing. Price starts tonight and Halak may have played his last game for Montreal.

Only to have Gauthier then to make a stupid trade for him, if Molson doesn't fire him first!

while the dim wits gainey, gauthier and martin let him languish in the minors as they have the 2 greatest defensemen in the world bergeron and hamerlick on this team that ovechkin is making a fool out of along with the coach of washington.

jkr said... People need to tone it down a little. We have every right to be upset but calling other fans "morons" is out of line.

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say what? firstly who used the word morons' on this topic? secondly yes any self proclaimed fans who burn police cars, loot stores, throw beer bottles at store windows and police after winning a first round series or sing na na na goodbye up 2-0 in a december game, or boo the national anthem of the usa, or sing ole ole up a goal or 2 , with 5 minutes left in game which enrages the bull in the other team and usually ends in them quickly scoring - yes the fans in montreal , these, not all, these fans are complete idiots.

Yes this management of the last SEVEN YEARS is the cause of this mediocrity!

This team of this size, these players like minor leaguer Darche, like Bergeron as bad a defensive defenseman in hocke playing over 20 minutes, trading for gomez 7.3 million dollar cap hit, paying hamerlick 5.5 million, wasting more cap money on cap on laraque who never should have been signed then is fired, standing pat at the trade deadline with a playoff contender the last 4 years in a row, ending up in failure each time, now plekanec probably won't be back because the dimwits gauthier and gainey have no cap room, so just what do you think replaces a player of his calibre and points for just $2.8 million?

and i can give you 50 more reasons of why they are complete incompetants. the worst they had 2 GMs on the staff but neither gainey nor gauthier noticed they had no more exemptions to send 1st round draft pick back to hamilton so they lost him for nothing to columbus on waivers. hainsey still earns over $4 million a year today. ribeiro for ninima another brilliant move of theirs. or trading a first round pick and 3 second round picks for tanguay, schneider and lang, all who lasted less than a year in montreal, etc., etc.

yes molsons must clean house

habs after tomorrow night will have lost 7 of their last 8 games this season

and

habs will have lost 12 of their last 13 playoff games

gauthier does not deserve anymore chances to turn smart!

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Anonymous said... NYG24 said: "Problem why this team has been so pathetic for 17 thats right 17 years is MORON fans like you accept this second rate crap!"

on another page i gues but again true for ANY self proclaimed hab fans who are so ignorant they cant see it themselves!

like now everyone knows "well washington has a great team and we were just 8th".

EXCEPT

thosae same idiots just last week were all saying that habs best matchup was against washington and they were happy that habs got them rather than nj or buffalo - 2 teams now down 3 games to 1. down to 2 teams the same level as the habs. that's the morons i'm talking about!

you think just maybe if subban would have been called back up after the olympic break by the dimwits gauthier/gainey/martin, the habs would not have got just one more point and at least avoided washington in the first round?

tsnA scoreboard announcement appealed to fans to respect the U.S. anthem before the game and while a few tried to get a 'go Habs go' chant going, as they did before Game 3, by the end, all were quiet.

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@anonymous

yes moron is the proper word

you see i used to go to many of this teams games in montreal and NEVER would something like that happen with the most intelligent hockey fans in the league at that time.

these currently(just that group that sure is large enough) are nothing but punks, morons, airheads or even as gainey in his last press conference of last year when he called them "the @-wholes up in the high seats"

Who you're reading

I'm a freelance sports reporter working in Montreal who has covered the Habs since 2000. I used to be obsessed with the Canadiens by choice, and for free. Now I'm paid to do the same thing. It's pretty sweet.